US Rep Santos to not seek 2024 re-election, says ethics committee report a smear campaign against him

In asharp reaction to theHouse Ethics Committee report, US Representative from New York George Santos on Thursday (Nov 16) said that he will not be seeking re-election in 2024. This comes after the ethics committee, following itsnine-month investigation, on November 14 unanimously voted to "refer to the Department of Justice (DOJ) substantial evidence that Representative Santos knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission" and "used campaign funds for personal purposes."

The report claimed that US Representative Santos engaged in "fraudulent conduct" and also breached the "ethics in government act."

After the release of the report,Santos took to X and posted that he would go on to serve his constituents till the time he is permitted to do so.

However, he continued that he will "NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time."

He termed the report biased and blamed the federal government for orchestrating a campaign against him.

He also launched a verbal attack on the federal government, lamenting its inaction on the migrants issue at its southern border and America's increased national debt.

In the post, Santos also declined to speak with media personnel anymore in connection to the controversy that erupted after the report by the ethics committee.

What were the findings of House Ethics Committee report?

In its findings, the ethics report said that Santos "sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit. He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit."

If the report is to be believed, Santos used the guise of "fictitious" loans to try and persuade donors to make further donations, and later diverted more of his campaign money to himself "as purported 'repayments' of those fictitious loans."

(With inputs from agencies)